What to do about Math

[anointedhsmom]

Ok I need some advice on what to do about math. We had been using BJU Homesat for all our school. I am about to place an order for all the BHFHG stuff and need to make up my mind what to do about math. My son has been doing fine with BJU and I am tempted to stay with it BUT we had done the Singapore Early Bird books and really liked those. Before BJU we had bought Singapore 1 A,B and the homeschool teacher's guide AND manipulatives. Well I sold the books because even though I had the TG I really felt I was going to have a hard time teaching it. Math is my nemesis so I am super worried about it. Then we went with Homesat so not to worry there. But now that I am going to go with HOD I decided to give my son the Singapore placement test and he placed in 1A. So I've said all that so you will know what I've been going through with math. If I go with Singapore I really feel like I would need lesson plans to go with it so I would have to buy the Beyond manual for those plans. Money is an issue. We have not finished the BJU math we have and I can continue with it and switch my son next year to Singapore. My son likes BJU and I think he would like Singapore too. What to do? What to do?

I'm also worried that if I go with Singapore now that later down the road I will struggle with teaching it after BHFHG since PHFHG doesn't give any activities to go with the textbook and workbook. It just schedules it for you.

Opinions? I need to make up my mind and get my order placed tonight! Mostly so I can get us set for school and stop fretting about all this.

Thanks for any help,
Paige

[eazbnsmom]

My motto usually is "if it isn't broken, then don't fix it" If BJU Homesat is working for you and your son, you are comfortable with it and already have it....I would go with it, at least until the end of the year, then make the decision about switching next year. Just my .02.

HTH

[water2wine]

I have two that have used Singapore and four that have not except for some of the word problems. But all my kids use HOD. So go with what best fits your family the best. I will say that I wish I had used Singapore with all of them but just did not work out that way. You could maybe just take it a year at a time. Lower level elementary has pretty much the same things to teach so don't feel like if you are on a path you can't switch. You can and it would be OK. HTH and don't stress too much over it. What is important is that they get the skills, HOD works either way.

[Carrie]

If the BJU is going fine, you can certainly continue with it until you get to the end of the materials you purchased. I will say that the teacher presentation part in BJU is time consuming, especially as you get into the upper levels (although it is well-done). I would weigh whether you think you will be able to continue with the needed presentation that BJU requires as you go through the years as this will also raise the level of time that your overall school day takes.

I realize there are many good math programs out there, and BJU is one of them. I just mentioned the concerns I listed above because they are the same concerns we ran into when weighing whether to stay with BJU with my oldest son (after we'd done 'K' math with BJU). We did return to BJU at a later time with my oldest son (for part of grade 4), but I wasn't able to give the time to the lesson presentation and preparation that was required, and so it ended up to be more of a workbook for us (which is not how it was intended to be used).

With that being said, we have used Singapore all the way with my second son, and I find it is easier to use a program that does not require presentation by me but is an added benefit that I can easily add-in if needed. Once we got to level 3A/3B, my son was ready for me to just go over the problems in the textbook with him, and then he was eager to go do the workbook part on his own. Just some food for thought.

Most moms say it is also easier to switch to Singapore earlier than it is to switch later.

Blessings,
Carrie

[Jen in Va]

I'm a former Homesat/BJUP math mom, granted, for the higher grades, but still. BJU's math is an excellent program, so you can't go wrong with that if it is working for your son. Homesat worked great for one of my children--high school level--but didn't for my second. The elementary programs are very good, too. My advice would be similar to the others--finish up with BJ/Homesat materials for math this year, and then have your son do the Singapore placement test again when you finish, and plug him in to the appropriate place in that. If you'd like to stay with Homesat beyond 2009, there may be issues with that. I recently read on the BJUP/Homesat page that the satellite version will no longer be offered after this school year. They will continue to offer the dvd and hard drive versions, both of which are very, very pricey--and with the hard drive I think you have to purchase the entire grade's subjects. I don't know if they will have an option for purchasing individual courses next year or not. To teach a BJUP math from the teacher's guide yourself is very time consuming--we started off in grade 6 with me teaching and picked up with Homesat in algebra. Just wanted to let you know about the changes in Homesat in case you were not aware of them.

BTW--my son is in LHFHG, and as much as BJUP math worked for son #1, we will be using Singapore with ds #2. DD will continue with Teaching Textbooks.

[anointedhsmom]

Thanks everyone. I decided to go with Singapore and just bought the Bigger package AND the Beyond manual for the hands on Singapore lessons. I called Carrie and talked to her about directly and that really helped me decide what to do.

I LOVE HOD and Carrie!!

Paige in TN
Joshua 9 BHFHG
Jacob 2 Driving us all crazy!